Fuel Forecast: Gas Could Hit $4.50 In Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A national Web site that analyzes fuel prices predicts gasoline could hit $4.50 a gallon in Buffalo this summer. That would shatter the previous record high in Western New York of $4.28 back in 2008.

The lower end of the projection from GasBuddy.com is still at $4.10 for the Buffalo-Niagara area.

Patrick DeHann, GasBuddy.com's senior petroleum analyst, said Buffalo is always above the national average, and he expects that will continue due to one overriding factor.

"A lot of the reason Buffalo prices are so much higher than the national average is due to gas taxes," DeHann said. "In fact, New York motorists all over the state faced with some of the highest gas tax rates in the country."

DeHann said Buffalo's projected high of $4.50 is one of the highest in the nation. New York City is expected to see prices slightly higher. Only a handful of other major cities will surpass Buffalo's projected high: